Abstract:
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have discovered through computer simulations that the bending of carbon nanotubes occurs differently from that of their macroscopic counterparts in significant ways.

Rather than buckling immediately and squashing the hollow inner channel, the results show, the cross-section can be gradually flattened--a finding that could lead to applications in controlling the flow of fluids through real carbon nanotubes. The results are published in the current issue of the journal Physical Review Letters.